The fleet of Russian air forces will be renewed by 70% by 2020, Vzglyad.ru reports with reference to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian air forces, Viktor Bondarev.

«In accordance with the State arms program for the period until 2020, the fleet of our air forces will be renewed. Russian air forces took delivery of 179 new jets last year, 207 new aircraft should be delivered to the air forces in 2013 and over 300 ones – in 2014. Thus the fleet of Russian air forces will be renewed by at least 70% by 2020», - he said.

Viktor Bondarev admitted that the fleet renewal would have been impossible without proper state support in the network of the state program. According to him, “the active State arms program assumes allocation of over 5 trillion rubles for the needs of the air forces (including purchasing new aircraft)».

The Commander-in-Chief added that besides the fleet renewal, the manpower of the air forces will be increased. «We are expanding the recruitment for the Air Force Academies this year, - the general noted. – Over 500 cadets will enter the Air Force Academies this summer».

Viktor Bondarev, who visited Pakistan for the first time in the history of relations between the countries, also said that the Command of Pakistani air forces is satisfied with the Russian-produced vehicles. «Russian aircraft delivered to Pakistan, mostly Mi-17 military-transport helicopters, are being successfully operated by the customer», - he said.

The Commander-in-Chief believes that “the negotiations on purchasing the Russian-produced vehicles by Pakistan will be continued”. «Representatives of Pakistani air forces intend to develop cooperation with Russia, - Viktor Bondarev said. – Pakistan counts on Russian vehicles and our help in the area of personnel training».

The possibility of training Pakistani students in Russia will be considered soon. In future Russian and Pakistani officers may be able to pass training in military educational institutions of the countries.